Lions` Spielman Loves A Challenge

If there were no football, Chris Spielman would invent it. His first game would be Sunday between the Bears and Lions in Soldier Field.

``Two great rival cities, big cities, Midwest, inside the division, outside, on grass, probably be a cloudy, gray day, both teams in first place,`` Spielman said.

Spielman is the inside linebacker of the Lions, but he`s no inside man.

``Domes and artificial turf are a communist plot,`` he said.

The Lions got to 6-2 by winning six games indoors and losing two outdoors, but that`s a detail Spielman the purist overlooks.

He also recognizes the Lions are the Lions because Barry Sanders is the king of beasts when it comes to running backs. Yet Spielman would love the challenge of playing against Sanders.

In Detroit, nobody allows Spielman to tackle Sanders in practice.

``You don`t get to go near him,`` Spielman said. ``That`s like a one-way bus ticket out of here.``

This is frustrating to a man born to tackle.

Sanders rarely allows anybody to tackle him anyway, but Spielman would just like to know how it feels.

``I`m glad he`s on our team, but the competitor in me says, `Man, I`d like to play against him,` `` Spielman said.

If he did, maybe Spielman wouldn`t be the leading tackler on a defense that has improved significantly from its last-place finish last season.

``I wouldn`t bet against me. I`ve got a lot of confidence in myself. I think I can get him. I might miss him one or two times, but I think I can put a helmet on him,`` Spielman said.

Tackling Neal Anderson and Brad Muster is challenge enough for the Lions this week.

``Here`s how I look at the Bears,`` Spielman said. ``I think they`re a very good, solid football team. But I think they think they`re great. And they play like that. They play with an attitude and play like winners, like they can`t be beat.``

Spielman knows the Lions have not yet reached that level. They went to Washington and lost 45-0. They went to San Francisco and lost 35-3.

``We`re trying to develop that consistency. We play at home against Tampa Bay, a team we know we can beat. Then we go to San Francisco and we`re not sure. We say, `Well, maybe we can win.` We`ve got to think we can win every time. I see that in Chicago. They were like that even when they weren`t very good,`` he said.

The Lions have improved on defense for at least four reasons:

- They are relatively healthy. They are playing without pass rusher Mike Cofer, but last year, Spielman, nose tackle Jerry Ball and safety Bennie Blades all got hurt early.

- The addition of Plan B cornerback Mel Jenkins and emergence of cornerback Ray Crockett have solidified the secondary.

``They give us the capability of playing man-to-man on first and second downs instead of sitting in zones all day and having a team nickel-and-dime you to death,`` Spielman said.

- Since trying a 4-3 defense against the Redskins with disastrous results, the Lions have simplified their game plans.

``This allows the defensive football player not to think but to react,``

Spielman said. ``When you start putting thinking with defense like they did against Washington, you`re a step slow and you get your face kicked in.``

- Barry Sanders. Without run-and-shoot assistant coach Mouse Davis, the Lions are trying to control the ball more. Last year, the Lions were last in defense partly because they were on the field longer than any other defense.

``We`ve helped our own cause by getting off the field on third down better, but the type of offense we have will take three or four yards. It`s not looking to make a big play every time. If the defense is off the field, you`ve got a great defense,`` Spielman said.

Since defenses rarely get to watch film of their own team`s offense, and rarely have time to pay attention on game day, Spielman must catch glimpses of Sanders whenever he can.

``I watch him. I think he`s taken that position to a new level as far as his style. He combines speed, power and stop-and-go ability like I haven`t seen before. His balance is unbelievable,`` Spielman said.

Never has Spielman tackled him. Sanders arrived only a couple of days before the 1989 season opener and avoided a training camp indoctrination.

``After his first game against Phoenix, after he had been in pro football two days and took off running like a wild man (71 yards in 9 carries), the next day he had a five-yard danger zone around him,`` Spielman said.

``Usually, you see guys run the other way when he`s running toward you.``